Michael Steele: Government Jobs Aren’t Jobs

February 8th, 2009 Economy Michael Steele Republicans 37 Comments


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The out of touch RNC chairman takes the conservative hatred of our government to a new and absurd level.

Posted in Economy, Michael Steele, Republicans |
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37 Responses to “Michael Steele: Government Jobs Aren’t Jobs”

  1. C.S.Strowbridge says:
    February 8, 2009 at 12:17 pm

    And yet people in Washington will treat him as if he has something worth saying. He will have no trouble getting an interview on TV to spread this crap.

  2. Repack Rider says:
    February 8, 2009 at 12:30 pm

    Apparently Republican governments create jobs for people who couldn’t get them any other way.

    I give you the example of George W.Bush.

  3. Frank DiSalle says:
    February 8, 2009 at 12:51 pm

    “If you got a government contract that’s a fixed period of time it goes away. The work may go away. There’s no guarantee that there’s going to be more work when you’re done with that job.”
    Is there really a difficulty in understanding the unassailable truth of that statement?

  4. Enlightened Liberal says:
    February 8, 2009 at 12:58 pm

    He just described every job. There is no guarantee that there’s going to be more work. Or is there someone who hasn’t noticed the closed storefronts and factories?

  5. limulus says:
    February 8, 2009 at 1:18 pm

    Michael Steele seems a lot more like Sarah Palin than I would have imagined. He speaks in gibberish that only Republicans are able to comprehend and which flusters interviewers. He then speaks condescendingly to interviewers by using their first name to dog whistle his contempt for the liberal media.

  6. August J. Pollak says:
    February 8, 2009 at 1:23 pm

    Like most other right-wing Republicans on wingnut welfare, you have to understand that Steele is a little confused being in the only field where, yes, you are guaranteed to still have a job no matter what stupid thing you do or say.

    If construction workers, manufacturers, or any other private-sector contract workers had the same job security as a right-wing conservative, we’d be building houses out of solid gold by now.

  7. calling all toasters says:
    February 8, 2009 at 1:49 pm

    Frank’s pretend ignorance is funny.

  8. Oliver Willis says:
    February 8, 2009 at 2:08 pm

    Government jobs aren’t permanent like those private sector ones at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup, Microsoft, Google, etc.

    Oh, wait.

  9. C.S.Strowbridge says:
    February 8, 2009 at 2:43 pm

    “If you got a government contract that’s a fixed period of time it goes away. The work may go away. There’s no guarantee that there’s going to be more work when you’re done with that job.”

    Frank DiSalle says: “Is there really a difficulty in understanding the unassailable truth of that statement?”

    My sister had a government job with a fixed period contract. When it ran out, guess what happened? She got a new contract with a fixed period. And when that ran out, she got another.

    I don’t have a government job. But I too have a contract with a fixed period of time. And recently it ran out. So I signed a new contract. Just like I last time my contract ran out. And the time before that. And the time before that.

    So yes, your “unassailable truth” is a load of bullshit.

  10. Frank DiSalle says:
    February 8, 2009 at 3:13 pm

    a) Strowbridge – “Your” government is the Canadian gov’t, where perhaps the gravy train goes on forever.

    b) If you have a contract, that is not the same as a “make work” Project to build a library or a highway, or a museum dedicated to Eleanor Roosevelt.

    That project WILL end, and except for a few years’ experience doing whatever you did while employed on that Project, that will be the end of that.

    What are the CCC and the WPA doing now? Who is currently being trained by CETA?

    What are the people who worked on Boston’s “Big Dig” doing now? Working on some other city’s “Big Dig”?

    Creating a job with an indefinite future is certainly better than creating a job with a definite “non-future”.

    Let’s see… How does that go, again? Give a man a fish …

  11. Repack Rider says:
    February 8, 2009 at 3:17 pm

    Hoover Dam employed a lot of people to build it. Then provided electricity that made job opportunities possible in places where there were none before.

    I see a lot of people working on the roads these days. Funniest thing, I have seen people working on the roads all of my long life, but they never seem to finish. I’m sure it’s a hobby for all those people, because it couldn’t possibly be paid employment, i.e. a job. After all, once you have built a road, the job is done, and then what are road builders going to do?

  12. Tyro says:
    February 8, 2009 at 3:25 pm

    If you have a contract, that is not the same as a “make work” Project to build a library or a highway, or a museum dedicated to Eleanor Roosevelt.

    You see, those people who do the work on those projects call it “getting a contract.” What happens when the contract ends? Well, the people who got the contracts for those projects will have more money in their pockets than they would have had otherwise, and the more active economy that resulted by the time the contract finishes should give those opportunities to find new projects and contracts, both in the public and private sector. Plus, at the end, there will be a new highway, library, or museum ready to be used by citizens.

    It’s kind of funny– I’ve had plenty of fixed-term jobs. No one said it wasn’t a real job or that the company that employed me for these positions wasn’t creating a “real job.”

  13. rat_bastard says:
    February 8, 2009 at 3:46 pm

    I’m a Reinforcing Ironworker who’s skill set means I do 80% of my work on bridges, power and water treatment plants and heavy building construction. With this Michael Steele has made it very clear that he does not want to even try to represent me.

  14. Parthenon says:
    February 8, 2009 at 3:52 pm

    Frank, are private sector freelance positions – contractor, house painter, etc. – ‘real jobs?’

  15. August J. Pollak says:
    February 8, 2009 at 3:55 pm

    What are the people who worked on Boston’s “Big Dig” doing now? Working on some other city’s “Big Dig”?

    Christ, you’re stupid. The Big Dig was done by a collective of multiple private construction firms, including Bechtel Corporation and Parsons Brinckerhoff, two of the largest and oldest construction firms in the nation. So yes, amazingly they managed to find other work for their employees both before and after the Big Dig project, you moron.

    Seriously, why are we bothering with Frank’s deliberate time-wasting here? He’s actually pretending that contract work doesn’t exist. John Cole is right- it’s useless trying to pretend you can have a debate when one of the parties is completely insane.

  16. Steve Tyler says:
    February 8, 2009 at 3:59 pm

    I too am a small business owner. The strength of my business is my ability to secure contracts to keep my business profitable. “Make work” vs a “job” is just sematics and an amaturish argument.

    At times, I have been able to employ up to 300 people based on my ability to get contract work. And, I have been doing that hard work for 10 years.

    So, whatever “work” I have been able to get for my company has resulted in “jobs” for my community.

  17. calling all toasters says:
    February 8, 2009 at 4:37 pm

    Seriously, why are we bothering with Frank’s deliberate time-wasting here?

    Because it’s slightly more entertaining than trying to outwit paint.

  18. Media Glutton says:
    February 8, 2009 at 4:56 pm

    Adding to Frank’s illogical argument — that since a government job is finite, it doesn’t count — then life itself doesn’t count, unless Frank is immortal.

  19. C.S.Strowbridge says:
    February 8, 2009 at 4:58 pm

    Frank DiSalle says: “a) Strowbridge – ‘Your’ government is the Canadian gov’t, where perhaps the gravy train goes on forever.”

    And my contract? You are not going to deal with that?

    “b) If you have a contract, that is not the same as a “make work” Project to build a library or a highway, or a museum dedicated to Eleanor Roosevelt.”

    Bridges, roads, and yes, even museums have a life expectancy. New bridges, new roads, and new buildings will always need to be built. Always.

    Since you don’t get that, there’s little to say except…

    “Shut the fuck up.”

  20. C.S.Strowbridge says:
    February 8, 2009 at 4:58 pm

    August J. Pollak says: “Seriously, why are we bothering with Frank’s deliberate time-wasting here?”

    calling all toasters says: “Because it’s slightly more entertaining than trying to outwit paint.”

    And the other option is actually doing work.

    Hell no.

  21. Duros62 says:
    February 8, 2009 at 5:58 pm

    Funny thing about bridge and road maintenance. You know what happens when they finish painting, say, the Golden Gate Bridge? They turn right around and paint it again. Infrastructure projects are the types of contract jobs that really should never end.

  22. bryan says:
    February 8, 2009 at 6:10 pm

    I work for the Health service in the UK collecting blood. Unless they develop a viable synthetic blood, I’m probably ok until retirement (I pay extra money in so that’s at 55). If not, I can be redeployed in the wider health service, or be made redundant.

  23. Frank DiSalle says:
    February 8, 2009 at 6:51 pm

    When I want to translate simple English, I use a dictionary.

    When I want to know how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, I’ll call you guys. You’re all very amusing, but way back a long time ago – yesterday – you were pretending not to understand Michael Steele. Now you are pretending not to understand me.

    So the score stands at “readers of English” – one.

    Comedian wannabes – infinite.

  24. Repack Rider says:
    February 8, 2009 at 8:03 pm

    Dunno, Frank.

    I had a book published and worked as an editor for several magazines. Sometimes I would get poorly written gibberish about an interesting subject and turn it into a readable article, but there’s a limit to extracting signal when the noise overwhelms it, and you have far exceeded that limit.

    I don’t think even you know what the heck you are talking about, but it’s certain that no one else does.

    I could be wrong. Perhaps you are an unrecognized genius, and the only reason the world hasn’t heard from you yet is because your only means of expressing your unique and narrowly focused genius is by posting on Oliver’s blog. If so, that means that the reason we don’t understand you is that the entire rest of humanity has not yet caught up with your amazing intellect, but I wouldn’t bet the rent on that.

  25. Zython says:
    February 8, 2009 at 8:37 pm

    Let’s see… How does that go, again? Give a man a fish …

    So you’re calling construction workers lazy bums? Why do you hate blue collar America so much?

    You’re all very amusing, but way back a long time ago – yesterday – you were pretending not to understand Michael Steele. Now you are pretending not to understand me.

    Oh, I understand you completely. You’re saying that work on a single project isn’t real work. Now, never having have worked a day in your long long life, I can understand your confusion, but almost all work (except retail) works on a project-by-project basis. Nobody works on a single project for their entire career. What I don’t understand is how anyone could be a stupid as you.

    Looks like poor Frankie’s finally gone senile. It’s like they say, the mind’s the first thing to go.

  26. jr says:
    February 8, 2009 at 8:37 pm

    Michael Steele will always be the Joe the Plumber of Maryland

  27. Quaker in a Basement says:
    February 8, 2009 at 9:26 pm

    So until there’s more “real” jobs available, people should just stop feeding their families?

    Republican economics, ladies and gents!

  28. z_adura says:
    February 8, 2009 at 9:46 pm

    Let me offer some ideas that might help explain why Michael Steele is incorrect. Companies which make physical products have a downward sloping trajectory for their cost of goods sold. The first ones off the line must are essentially priced against the full cost of factory in which they were produced, which makes them very expensive. Over time, this set-up cost approaches zero. Furthermore, scale results in cost reductions of their own. Thus, we can get mobile phones with about 50X the features today at about 1/50th the price.

    When a government decides to incentivize the purchase of “goods” or buy them for their own use, they are doing so to seed the market, not to become the market. This was the path for such products as solar cells, super computers, embedded systems / mini-computers, hydro-electric dams, most lasers and thus all opto-electric devices, most energy efficiency products and on and on and on.

    We have an opportunity with this stimulus package to make the cost of many, many things more affordable: electric vehicles, high-speed rail, nuclear facilities, LED lighting, bio-fuel refineries, utility-scale solar, distributed building automation. Useful stuff.

    As they get diffused into the government market, their price will come down and they will be more available to the commercial market resulting in a flourishing of new jobs in everything from manufacture to construction to services. This isn’t the only way to create growth. The private sector usually can handle this on its own, but our private sector is basically broken. In such times, government spending is the only lever left.

  29. ed says:
    February 8, 2009 at 10:35 pm

    RNC Chair Hank Kingsley does not strike me as an expecially smart person.

  30. Jaim says:
    February 9, 2009 at 12:04 am

    Shorter Frank: Schoolteachers don’t have real jobs. Soldiers don’t have real jobs. Cops don’t have real jobs. Firefighters don’t have real jobs.

    Is Jay sending you wittle e-mail with your marching orders for today? Cuz you’re doing it wrong.

  31. PD100 says:
    February 9, 2009 at 12:10 am

    “Is there really a difficulty in understanding the unassailable truth of that statement?

    I agree, Frank! Let’s disband the armed forces!

  32. mambochicken23 says:
    February 9, 2009 at 3:10 am

    You know, there are days that I feel like I need to change my life. I need to disconnect the computer, sell all my superfluous possessions, and go away into the wilderness where I will never, ever have to encounter the stupidity of people like Frank ever again. Sure, my life expectancy will drop considerably, and I will likely struggle with finding clean water, food, and warm shelter in the wintertime, but that all pales in comparison with reading inane blather from the conservative morons who as-yet populate this land.

    /hyperbole off

  33. mikefromtexas says:
    February 9, 2009 at 4:18 am

    This site attracts some of the most brainless trolls I’ve ever run across.

  34. C.S.Strowbridge says:
    February 9, 2009 at 8:45 am

    mikefromtexas says: “This site attracts some of the most brainless trolls I’ve ever run across.”

    I think that’s the appeal.

  35. Bruce Henry says:
    February 9, 2009 at 9:55 am

    Strowbridge Johnson is right. We’re lazy liberals, we like easy pickin’s.

  36. C.S.Strowbridge says:
    February 9, 2009 at 10:39 am

    Bruce Henry says: “Strowbridge Johnson is right. We’re lazy liberals, we like easy pickin’s.”

    Fast and easy ego boost.

  37. Moue Magazine » Blog Archive » When is a job not a job? says:
    February 9, 2009 at 6:45 pm

    [...] devoted habit of not watching This Weak with George Stephanupplegus, so a tip of the hat is due to Oliver Willis for pointing out Sam Stein’s HuffPo piece detailing Steele’s jaw-dropping appearance: [...]

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